Clifford Curzon

Clifford Curzon, the distinguished British pianist, was born in London on May 18, 1907, and died there on September 1, 1982. He attended the Royal Academy of Music beginning in 1919 and worked with Katharine Goodson and Charles Reddie, then he joined the R.A.M. faculty from 1925 to 1932. In the late 20s he fell under the influence of Artur Schnabel and began a long association with him, also receiving coaching in 18th century music from Wanda Landowska. Curzon's American debut took place in 1939. He was known to dislike the stress of both public performances and recording sessions, but nonetheless earned great acclaim for his penetrating musicianship in major works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms.